Flexible locomotive drive



Oct. 27,1925 1,558,849

G. M. EATON v FLEXIBLE LOCOMOTIVB DRIVE Filed May 11, 1921 INVENTOR- GeoryeME @1517.

2 ATTORNEY I WITNESSES:

Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES, ATENT OFFICE.

enonen M. EA'roN, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYL ANIA, AssrsNon 'ro WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

FLEXIBLE 'LOCOMOTiV E DRIVE.

I Application filed May 11, 1921. :Serial 11051685 85.

tively associated with a'common driven element. p 1

The object of my invention is to so mount a plurality ofdriv-ing pinions that, when they are in mesh with :a single gear or with a plurality of rigidly connected gears, variations in the quality of engagement between the teeth of any one pinion and its associated gear with respect to the engagement between the teeth of another pinion and its gear will-be compensated for and not result driving strains upon either of in excessive the pinions.

Furthermore, my ,7 construction provides flexibility between the rotor elements with paratively small pinions ofithe iflexi ble type which the respective pinions are connected,

in those cases where such pinions serve as 39 driving connections for a plurality of motors driving a single shaft. I

It has been proposed, in electric locomotive construction, to mount the motors in pairs, with pinions on their respective shafts meshing with the gear wheels carried on a jack shaft, the motors being placed at opp'o-. site sides of the jack shaft.

This arrangement is objectionable, because inequality of engagement by the pinions of one shaft with the gear wheels results in excessive strains on the other pinions, at least temporarily. Likewise, variations in the engagement between the pinions of one motor and the gears and in the engagement between the gears and the pinions of the other motor may cause the temporary imposition of an excessive load on one ofthe motors.

One means for applying my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, where- Figure 1 is a view, in side elevation, showing a portion of a locomotive constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the structure shown in 1, except that the cab body is omitted. I

Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of theflexible elements, and

Fig. i is a view takenon the line IV-IV of Fig. 3. f I e ,A locomotive body 4 is mounted upon a supporting structure 5 embodying the vusual side frames 16 that are .carried .by axles 7 and 8,'and in which isjournaled a jack'shaft I 9. The side frames also support a pair of motors .10' and 11 .that'are provided with armature shafts l2 .and 13, respectively.

The jaclcsh'aft 9 carries, :at its opposite ends, gear wheels 15 and 1.6uthat are connected to driving wheels 17 and 18, respectively, through side rods 19 and 20;

The gear wheels15 and 1.6 are preferably of the fie-xible'type such, for instance, .ascthat described in my Patent :No. 1,321,512 issued Nov. '11, 1919, in order to provide flexibility "between the driving wheels 17 and '18.and the rims of the gear wheels 1 The armature shaft-'13 s provided with pinions 21 and 22 and the armature shaft 1215 provided with pinions 23 and .24.

Owing to :the Ldiiflicuilty of making comdescribed in the patent above refer-red to, I prefer to make them of the type of those shown in my Patent No. 1,306,531, issued June 10, 1919.

It is not feasible to provide flexibility in the pinions 21 and 22, because of their comparatively small size and because a flexible connection, such as is shown between the pinions 23 and 24 and the armature shaft 12, would interfere with the movement of the side rods 19 and 20.

Although the gear wheels 15 and 16 may be provided with resilient connections between their centers and their rims, as above pointed out, the motors 10 and 11 would be rigidly connected through the rims of the gear wheels, if flexibility were not provided in one of the pinions. An important feature of my inventlon resides in the means whereby flexibility is secured between the motors in a drive of this general type.

The pinions 23 and 24 are rigidly secured the sleeve members 27 and 28 that surround the ends of the shaft 12. The sleeve members are connected to the shaft 12, through projections 29 and 30, springs 31 and arms 34 and 35 of a quill member 36 that is rigidly held in place upon the shaft 12, by a nut 37, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4.

It will be seen from the foregoing that each motor is protected against shocks or excessive stresses as a result of inequality in gear teeth or other abnormal conditions.

It is apparent that various changes in the general arrangement may be made, such, for instance, as by the employment of a flexible element of a differenttype for the various pinions, or for some of them. Various other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined in the accompanying claims.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. In combination, in a locomotive, traction wheels, a jack shaft extending transversely of the locomotive, gear centers mounted on the jack shaft, side rods con necting the traction wheels to the gear centers, gear rims carried by the gear centers, flexible elements enclosed between the gear rims and the gear centers, a pair of motors disposed on opposite sides'of the jack shaft, and armature shafts driven by the motors and each provided, at its opposite ends, with pinions that mesh with the respective gear rims, the pinions of one of the said armature shafts being flexibly mounted.

2. The combination with a driven member, of a plurality of drive members, said driven and one of said drive members being rotatably yieldable.

3. The combination with a pair of motors, of a driven member geared thereto, said driven member having a flexible connection with the motor gears and one of the motor shafts having a flexible element on the respective ends thereof.

4. The combination, in a driving connec tion, of two flexible gear wheels, a single shaft therefor, and a motor shaft provided with pinions that mesh with said gear wheels one of the pinions being flexibly mounted.

i 5. In a driving connection, the combina tlon of a pair of oppositely rotating pinlons and an interposed flexible gear wheel, one of said pinion-s being resilient.

6. In a driving connection, the combination of a pair of driving gear wheels, a shaft therefor, a second pair of driving gear wheels, and a shaft therefor, and two flexible driven gear wheels, each of which has driving connection with one of the driving gear wheels of each of said pairs, one pair of driving gear wheels being resilient.

7. In a driving connection, the combination of a pair of driving gear wheels, a shaft therefor, a second pair of driving gear Wheels and a shaft therefor, and two driven gear wheels, each of which has driving connection with one of the driving gear wheels of each of said pairs, one pair of driving gear wheels and the driven gear wheels being resilient.

8. In combination, a driven shaft, a flexible gear Wheel on each end of the shaft,

a motor provided with an armature shaft In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of April 1921.

GEORGE M. EATON. 

